John Walsh
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See also John Walsh (disambiguation)
John E. Walsh (born December 26, 1945 in Auburn, New York) is the host of the TV show America's Most Wanted. Walsh is known for his anti-crime activism, particularly against those who target children, following the murder of his son, Adam, in 1981. He usually appears wearing a black leather coat, which has become part of his visual signature.
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[edit] Murder of Adam Walsh
In the summer of 1981, Walsh was a partner in a hotel management company in Hollywood, Florida. He and his wife, Revé, had a six-year-old son, Adam. On July 27, 1981, Adam was abducted from a Sears department store near his home. Revé had dropped Adam off in the Sears toy department while she looked for a lamp. When she returned, Adam was missing. Police records in Adam's case released in 1996 show that a 17-year-old security guard asked four boys to leave the department store.[1] Adam is believed to have been one of them. Sixteen days after the abduction, his severed head was found in a drainage canal more than 100 miles away from home. His body was never recovered. The prime suspect in Adam's abduction and murder, Ottis Toole, was never charged in the Adam Walsh case. He died in prison in September 1996 while serving a life sentence for other crimes. In January 2007, however, deceased serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer fell under suspicion for the murder of Adam. This speculation was discounted by Walsh in an America's Most Wanted statement on February 6, 2007.[2]
The Walsh family soon began a campaign to help missing and exploited children. In spite of bureaucratic and legislative problems, John and Revé's efforts eventually led to the creation of the Missing Children Act of 1982 and the Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1984.
Subsequently, they founded the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to legislative reform. The centers, originally located in West Palm Beach, Florida; Columbia, South Carolina; Orange County, California; and Rochester, New York; recently merged with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), where John Walsh serves on the Board of Directors.
Today, Walsh continues to testify before Congress and state legislatures on crime, missing children and victims' rights issues. His latest efforts include lobbying for a Constitutional amendment for victims' rights.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (Pub.L. 109-248) was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006 following a two-year journey through the U.S. Congress and was intensely lobbied for by Walsh and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Primarily, it focuses on a national sex offender registry, tough penalties for not registering as a sex offender following release into society, and access by citizens to state websites that track sex offenders.
[edit] Career in television
Walsh has also been the host of the FOX television show America's Most Wanted since 1988. He was selected as host after the completion of the program's pilot and a lengthy search. By that time, Walsh was already well known because of the murder of his son and his subsequent actions to help missing and exploited children.
Walsh was host of The John Walsh Show which aired from 2002 to 2004.[3]
In July 2005, Walsh attempted to assist the family of missing teen Natalee Holloway. Walsh was critical of the Aruban crime investigation and, along with television personality Dr. Phil, urged Americans to boycott Aruba.
Walsh was a special guest on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired on August 14, 2005. The episode visited the home of Colleen Nick, who is the parent of Morgan Nick (disappeared in 1995, still missing). Walsh has featured the Morgan Nick case on America's Most Wanted several times.
He also is the author of three best-selling books, "Tears of Rage" (1997), "No Mercy" (1998) and "Public Enemies" (2001).
John and Revé Walsh were portrayed by actors Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams in Adam, a 1983 NBC television movie dramatizing the days following Adam's disappearance. The real Walshes appeared at the end of the broadcast to publicize photographs of other children who had vanished but were still missing.
[edit] Family
After the murder of Adam, the Walshes had three more children: Meghan, Callahan, and Hayden. Revé filed for divorce on August 1, 2002. They later reconciled and the divorce proceeding was dismissed. John and Revé currently live in Washington, D.C..
Meghan was born a year after Adam was murdered. Revé Walsh told local newspapers at the time that "there is no substitute for Adam." She also said "Meghan will make me miss Adam more. He always wanted a sister." Meghan is currently an artist and resides in North Carolina with her fiancé.
Callahan was born in 1985, and is currently attending college in Florida, majoring in business. He has considered following in his father's footsteps in television broadcasting and as a political advocate for children.
Hayden (b. 1995) is the youngest child. He accompanies his father when filming TV shows, including America's Most Wanted. On the July 27, 2006 show of Larry King Live, Larry King said that Hayden resembled Adam.
[edit] Tributes
In 2002, rapper Bizzy Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony wrote a song for the show and dedicated it to Adam and John Walsh, encouraging abduction survivors not to keep their abductions a secret, as Bone did after being abducted in the early 1980s.
On August 16, 2006, Walsh's hometown of Auburn, NY named a street after him.[4]
John Walsh appeared in the DC Comics graphic novel "Outsiders: Wanted" as himself. In a segment of this fictional story, Walsh aided the superhero team when they decided it was a good course of action to go public with their information regarding a slave trader who was targeting children. Walsh assisted the team by reviewing their information with them and airing what they had on "America's Most Wanted", taking tips and finally giving them a solid lead gained from the tips that poured in.
A punk rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, named itself "John Walsh" in order to spread a positive message to teens. With lyrics such as "the speeding criminal is the coward," and "Don't spend the years being hurt / Don't spend your life loving jerks," they tackle themes from domestic violence to drunk driving.
[edit] Notes
- ^ America's Most Wanted, The Story Of Adam Walsh. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
- ^ America's Most Wanted, AMW Statement on Reports Of Possible Adam Walsh/Jeffrey Dahmer Connection, 2/6/2007. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
- ^ IMDB, "The John Walsh Show". Retrieved February 14, 2007.
- ^ City of Auburn, NY, Council Meeting, August 31, 2006, August 25, 2006. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
[edit] External links
- America's Most Wanted Profile of John Walsh
- John Walsh at the Internet Movie Database
- On the Safe Side - Internet Safety a safety video by John Walsh
- Aruban Boycott--Justice for Natalee Holloway John Walsh's endorsed Boycott of Aruba
- The signing of the Adam Walsh Bill Latin NewsWire Executive Producer spoke with John Walsh at the White House just before President George Bush signed the Adam Walsh Bill into law, in a Rose Garden event.
